



y^&- S,/H 



•C& 



There i3 no constitutional disability as to the acquisition of territory, and 
■whether, -when acquired, it may bo taken into the Union by the Constitution ad 
it now stands will become a question of expediency. 



REMARKS 



HON. JOSEPH Y. GRAFF, 

OF ILLINOIS, 

ON TIIE 

ANNEXATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 

IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



JUNE IS, 1898. 



But in determining this question it is not the acquiring of territory to satisfy 
pride or the greed of possession that influences me. Territorial expansion is not 
the need of the hour, but, in my judgment, the central and controlling factor in 
the determination to annex the Hawaiian Islands is that it will aid in our com- 
mercial expansion. 



"WASHINGTON. 
1898. 






^ 
*• 



* 



- 1 






REMAEKS 

OF 

HON. JOSEPH V. GKAFF. 



Tho House having under consideration the joint resolution (H. Res. 253) to 
provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States- 
Mr. GRAFF said: 

Mr. Speaker: In arriving at a judgment regarding the annexa- 
tion of the Hawaiian Islands I was not hampered by any pre- 
viously formed or expressed opinion concerning the subject, and 
therefore was able to give the matter a conscientious, careful, and 
unprejudiced examination. I have been affected in reaching a 
conclusion, first, by what appears to be the sentiment of the Ameri- 
can people. I have great confidence in their good judgment, and 
it is justified by the manner in which they have met the various 
crises through which the Republic has passed and the manner in 
which they have shown themselves competent to deal with the 
most complex questions. 
A notable illustration of this we had in the last campaign. 
<J They sat in their meetings and at the fireside, and even in the 
shops and stores, and carefully delved into the complicated ques- 
tion presented, and, in my judgment, the verdict which they 
finally rendered was well ripened, mature, and wise. They are a 
courageous, but a conservative people. They have all due respect 
for the traditions of the fathers, and yet have a well-founded con- 
fidence in their ability to meet the problems of the future, which 
are for them, and not for those departed, to solve. I have ample 
evidence collected during the last few weeks that the great ma- 
jority of the American people are in favor of the annexation of 
these islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the next place, so far as 
the advantages of annexation are concerned as a strategic, mili- 
tary, and naval base, I have yielded to the judgment of the ex- 
perts of the Army and the Navy of the United States, and of the 
Administratiqn. General Schofield, the last one of those surviv- 
ing who were prominent in the late rebellion as a commanding 
officer, and one who by experience and ability has shown himself 
to be worthy of regard concerning a question of this character, 
stated to the House Committee on Foreign Relations that the 
most important feature of all is that it economizes the naval force 
rather than increases it. He said also: 

It is capable of absolute defense by shore batteries, so that a naval flee t 
after going there and replenishing its supplies and making what repairs are 
needed, can go away and leave the harbor perfectly safe to the protection of 
the army. The Spanish fleet on the Asiatic station was the only one of all 
the fleets we could have overcome as we did. Of course, that can not again 
happen, for we will not be able to pick up the weakest fellow next time. Wo 
3:53 8 



are liable at any time to get into a war with a nation which has a more pow- 
erful fleet than ours, and it is of vital importance, therefore, if we can, to hold 
the point from which they can conduct operations against our Pacific coast. 
Especially is that true until the Nicaraugua Canal is finished, because we 
can not send the fleet around from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

In addition to this, Admiral Walker, who has had an extended 
experience in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands, emphatically 
confirms General Schofield, saying that it would cost far less to 
protect the Pacific coast with the Hawaiian Islands than without 
them; that it would be taking a point of vantage instead of giving 
it to the enemy. 

It must be remembered, Mr. Speaker, that we have a coast line 
of nearly 2,000 miles on the Pacific, and our Alaskan coast line is 
greater in extent than our Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coast lines 
combined. To my inexpert mind, it would seem that modern 
ships of war and commerce as well require facilities for coaling 
and for frequent docking for repairs. We are entirely without 
this, and that, too, in the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With 
millions of square miles of water around them, it rises above the 
waves a single and only fortress of the sea and now offered to us 
for the taking. It must be remembered that the Pacific Ocean 
from onr own coast is on an average more that 5,000 miles wide, 
twice that at least of the Atlantic and four times in area. Eng- 
land at least realizes the importance of such harbors of refuge and 
bases of supply and has established fortified coaling stations all 
around the world in the pathways of commerce. A cruiser or 
battle ship with a coal capacity necessary to carry her 5,000 miles, 
steaming at 10 knots an hour, will exhaust her coal in less than 
1 ,000 miles by doubling her speed. With a supply of coal well 
guarded in Pearl Harbor, our war ships and merchantmen can 
cross the Pacific at the maximum speed or concentrate at distant 
points at high speed, thus largely increasing their efficiency, while 
their adversaries, being under the necessity of conserving their 
coal or risking the running out of coal away from their own ports, 
must move at much less speed, thus being placed at great disad- 
vantage. 

England, Germany, France, Japan, the United States, and once 
Spain, all have a Pacific squadron. Every one of these is stronger 
than ours, save that Of Spain, which was the weakest. But the 
Administration has asked for the annexation, and the President 
has placed the military and naval advantage as one of the causes. 
This has also contributed to forming my opinion. To-day the 
people of this country are back of the Administration and the con- 
duct of this war and in all those things which are necessary to its 
successful prosecution as viewed by the Administration as they 
have never been behind any Administration from the commence- 
ment of this Government. Therefore, not being a military expert 
myself, I yield to the judgment of the Administration upon that 
point. But to me the controlling factor in the determination of 
this question is its importance from a commercial standpoint. 

War is not our normal condition; we desire to pursue rather 
the arts of peace, and when war comes it can never be resorted 
to by the American people except upon justifiable grounds and as 
a necessity. To me, therefore, war is simply an incident, a most 
glorious one, but yet simply an incident in the determination of 
action npon these resolutions for annexation. I think it is unfor- 
tunate that in the discussion of this question the problem of the 

3156 



retention of the Philippine Islands should have been brought into 
consideration. I am not afraid that we shall ba hysterical, and 
because we have annexed the Hawaiian Islands shall be intoxi- 
cated with an uncontrollable desire for territorial aggrandizement. 

I do not believe that the decision of the present question will 
influence our judgment when we come to settle the Philippine 
problem. This has not been our history; it has not been the his- 
tory of Congress. But in determining this question it is not the 
acquiring of territory to satisfy pride or the greed of possession 
that influences me. Territorial expansion is not the need of the 
hour, but, in my judgment, the central and controlling factor in 
the determination to annex the Hawaiian Islands is that it will 
aid in our commercial expansion. We must remember that mar- 
velous as has been our growth in population, from 3,000,000 people 
at the close of the Revolution to 73,000,000 to-day, it is surpassed in 
the wonderful increase of the productive power of this country 
through improved machinery, the product of American genius. 

Whether this fact be a matter of congratulation or regret, no 
legislative power can stop it. The difference between the amount 
which could formerly be produced by a given number of laboring 
men and that which can be produced with the machinery of to-day 
operated by the same number passes comprehension. It is a 
problem to be met. There is much to congratulate ourselves upon 
under present conditions. I believe that we should first take care 
of ourownniarket, as we have done, through the policy of protection. 
But we must also put our foot upon the sea. We must have our 
share of the world's commerce. I am to-day informed by the gen- 
tleman from Maine [Mr. Bingley] that the Treasury statistics 
show that from February 1 of the present year to the end of the 
present month each month's receipts under the Bingley bill are 
sufficient to pay the peace expenses of the nation, basing those 
expenses upon the expenses of each month corresponding for the 
last year, and leave a surplus on July 1 of §10,000,000, and that, 
too, in the face of the fact that importers, anticipating this pro- 
tection f eature of the Bingley bill, flooded our markets, especially 
with one year's supply of wool, thus materially lessening the pos- 
sibility of large revenue receipts during the first year of its opera- 
tion. I give below a table of the exports of merchandise manu- 
factured in this country, not including coin or bullion of any 
kind, with the value of each year's exportation, commencing with 
the passage of the McKinley Act, in 1890: 

Exports of vierchandise. 



Year ending Jnne 30— 


Value. 


Year ending June 30— 


Value. 


1S90- ._ 


$845,293,838 

873,270,283 

1,015,732,011 

831,030,785 


1894 


1892,140,572 


1891 


1895 - --- 


807,538,165 


1892 


1896 


882,606,938 


1893.— 


1897— 


1,050,993,506 









It is somewhat significant that of the two years in which we 
sold abroad the largest amount of agricultural and manufactured 
products one should be under the operation of the McKinley Act 
and the other under the Administration of McKinley, and. the 
next year will surpass, according to the estimate of the Treasury 
Bepartment, that of the present; or the exports for the nine 
months ending march 31, 1898, are §910,612,651, which would 
3456 



make the exports for year ending June 30, 1898, $1,214,150,201. 
But the struggle is ever necessary and ever unending. We can 
not be blind to the fact that the four great European powers, Eng- 
land, Russia, France, and Germany, are endeavoring to obtain 
commercial supremacy of the world by the policy of colonization. 
The territory of Africa is speedily being divided between the great 
powers, and now already has commenced the parceling out of the 
Empire of China between them. More than one-half of the popu- 
lation of the world is in countries upon the Pacific and Indian 
oceans. Hon. J. R. Procter, in an article he wrote for the Forum 
in September, 1897, says: 

The foreign commerce of the countries bordering these oceans, excluding 
North America, already amounts to over $2,250,000,000 a year. Of this great 
commerce we as yet have but a small fraction. Over 80 per cent of our total 
exports go eastward across the Atlantic and less than 5 per cent westward. 

Nor can we ignore the new constitutional monarchy of Japan 
which has awakened from its sleep of centuries and startled the 
world with its progressiveness and power. Are we to be pre- 
pared for this changing of the front of the world's market? Are 
we to forget that we are between two oceans? I verily believe 
that the commercial conflict of the future is to be for the trade of 
the Orient. 

We are no longer simply an agricultural nation, and it is not for 
the interests of the farmer that we should be that alone. The 
splendid victory of Dewey atManila has not aroused us to dreams 
of territorial aggrandizement, but it has awakened us to the ne- 
cessity of ports of our own under the American flag where our 
vessels may seek refuge and coal all over the world. We wish to 
see the American flag floating on every sea over goods manufac- 
tured by American workmen and cereals raised by American 
farmers shipped in American bottoms. When the American goes 
to the Orient, or wherever he goes the round world over, we want 
it understood that he is a citizen of a Republic which protects the 
commercial and personal interests of the American citizen wher- 
ever he may be. This is not " jingoism." This is a practical pos- 
sibility. 1 am not in favor of commercial expansion for any other 
reason than the benefit of the 73,000,000 people whom we have 
within our present boundaries. And if in the annexation of 
Hawaii we can give them the privileges of our Government, to 
our own advantage, we have enough of caution and discretion to 
meet the Philippine problem when it comes upon its own merits. 

We did not seek to wage this war for territory. We entered 
into it because Spain had forfeited her rights to govern the Island 
of Cuba, and because her misgovernment had been an evil both 
to that unhappy people and to our own commercial interests. We 
sought, according to the usages of war, because Spain persisted in 
resisting, to strike her wherever we could find a vital point, and 
we certainly are not called upon to allow the expenses of this war, 
prolonged by Spain, to be paid other than out of any of her pos- 
sessions of which we may have control at its close. Our right un- 
der the Constitution to acquire territory by conquest, annexation, 
or purchase has been too well established by precedents in our 
own history to be questioned. At the time of the Louisiana pur- 
chase Jefferson wrote to Gallatin: 

There is no constitutional disability as to the acquisition of territory, and 
whether, when acquired, it may be taken into the Union by the Constitution 
as it now stands will become a question of expediency. 

The Democratic members of this House last night held a caucus, 
and one of their members therein offered a resolution to the 

aiso 



effect that the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands was dangerous, 
unwise, and un-Democratic. But the word " un-Democratic " 
was stricken from the resolution, as it wisely might be, and as 
amended the resolution passed. 

Florida was ceded by Spain in 1819 without the consent of the 
Spanish population of Florida. Louisiana was purchased from 
France in 1803 without the consent of the French population of 
Louisiana. Texas was annexed in 1845, and that not by treaty 
ratified by the Senate, but by an act of annexation passed by both 
Houses of Congress, as we are attempting to pass these resolu- 
tions, and yet this method is now pronounced unconstitutional by 
one of the members on the other side of this Chamber. Califor- 
nia was ceded by Mexico in 1848. The Gadsden purchase was 
made 1853, and the purchase of Alaska finally in 1887. In con- 
sidering the form of government which we would give to the 
Hawaiian Islands it may be remembered that we delayed admit- 
ting portions of the acquired territory for more than eighty years, 
and parts of it still remain unadmitted as States. 

The total area of the United States at present is, in round num- 
bers, 3,668,000 square miles. It was originally onlyabout 1,132,000 
square miles. Thus by these acquisitions, after the formation of 
our Government, we tripled our territory and acquired all we now 
have west of the Mississippi, as well as Louisiana and Florida. 
And I am frank to say that the proudest part of the history of the 
Democratic party was that to it was due the greatest credit for these 
acquisitions. It seems to me that it is very inconsistent for them 
now to grow so very conservative over the acquisition of a little 
group of islands in the midst of the sea. It must also be remem- 
bered that the "Whig party suffered by reason of its opposition to 
the Mexican war which resulted in the acquisition of the Califor- 
nia territory ceded by Mexico; and the same forebodings existed 
then as are brought up to-day, and the arguments made now are 
repetitions of those days. 

We remember that the Whig party only escaped condemnation 
by the wise selection of the old hero of the Mexican war, Zachary 
Taylor, who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The 
leader of the party on the opposite side of this Chamber would not 
be here were it not for the annexation of Texas. This is not a 
new question. The value of the Hawaiian Islands to the United 
States has been recognized by almost every Secretary of State for 
the last half century. 

There is a little Republic in Italy 4 miles from the shore of the 
Adriatic, away up in the Apennine Mountains, thirteen hundred 
years old, consisting of five villages, with some 8,000 inhabitants, 
and 22 square miles, entirely mountainous. There is little or no 
use for the prison. She is not a tempting prize to the stronger 
powers of Europe. Her people are industrious, prudent, and 
economical. She does not intermeddle with the world outside. 
She shuts out the telephone, the railroad, and all of the modern 
appliances of this age. They have been kept in simplicity, yes; in 
liberty, yes; but they also have been kept in ignorance. They en- 
joy liberty bound up within themselves, but not such a liberty as 
we would or can enjoy. They have no part in the world's work. 
We can not escape it. If they had existed from the time of Adam, 
we would have lived longer in our hundred and nineteen years of 
national life than they. 

We frequently hear men longing for the simplicity of the primi- 
tive times of the beginning of this Government. Perhaps some 
34:6 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 944 334 3 



may think it would be better. It matters not. Sir, we can not 
turn the wheels of progress back, if we would. We must meet 
the problems of the future. We can not rely upon the principles 
laid down for the settling of the problems of the past, when we 
were an agricultural Republic alone, to meet the problems of the 
future of a great commercial power, except as they may be appli- 
cable to the present time. I have confidence in the present and, 
above all, I have a confidence in the guiding power of the God of 
nations, who has directed us thus far in preserving a liberty which 
is not one simply for ourselves, not an exclusive privilege, but is 
typified in the statue at New York Harbor of Liberty Enlightening 
the World. [Applause. J 



